The hosts won by 168 runs, their largest margin of victory in T20Is in terms of runs, thanks to his undefeated 126 and New Zealand's surrender for 66.
Shubman Gill was cruising along at 67 off 45 balls in the 16th over, helping India maintain a solid strike rate of 10 runs per over. Ben Lister, a left-arm seamer making his debut for New Zealand, twice missed his length at that point. Gill first placed him in the bleachers over mid-wicket before clearing space to give him a somewhat squarer whip.
If anyone thought Gill was burning, they were in for a surprise when he accelerated. It ultimately assisted India in scoring 234 runs, which they easily defended, giving them a 168-run victory on Wednesday in Ahmedabad, their largest in terms of runs. It resulted in yet another domestic bilateral T20I series victory (2-1).
Gill's 126 (63 b, 12 x 4, 7 x 6), which is the highest T20I innings by an Indian, was unbeaten.
The 23-year-old has been anticipated as a strong hitter since he was a little child. We might have witnessed Gill's maturation as a T20 force with this knock. Prior to the game, his T20I strike rate was 128. Five foreigners may be a small sample size. But even in the IPL, across 74 games and five seasons, his strike rate is 125. He continued to bat and had a 200 strike rate in this situation.
That that account for the irate shout he made after sending a Lockie Ferguson cross-seamer over extra cover for four to celebrate his 54-ball hundred. He smiled and immediately bowed to the spectators and his dugout. In order to keep his IPL home audience, Gill was especially brutal against pace as he rode on the real bounce.
Fielders for New Zealand three times lost Gill. He was dropped on 33 in the sixth over at short third man after failing to get a handle on a cut shot attempt off a rising Ferguson delivery. It came at a price.
Gill's magnificent stroke play will leave the Kiwis beaten when they depart India. He scored an ODI double tonne in the opening game of the series, making him the youngest Indian to do so. He scored a T2OI hundred on Wednesday, making him the youngest Indian to do so.
He is gonna make his career with a lot of such awful performances.
